St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church and Rectory was a historic

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

located at 108 Franklin Street,

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Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of the State of New York. The county is along Lake Ontario's southern shore. At the 2020 census, Monroe County's population was 759,443, an increase since the 2010 census. Its county seat an ...

. The complex was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975. The structure's shell has been preserved as monument after a disastrous fire.

Architecture

The church was originally built 1843-1846 in the simple monumental tradition of the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style, with a gray stone facade of a series of arched bays on the exterior facade. The simple church was enlarged in 1849 into a cruciform plan that could seat a thousand parishioners. The interior was remodeled in 1895. The first steeple was added in 1859 and replaced with a tower in 1909, designed by Joseph Oberlies.Mary Johna Grzeskowiak, ''The Adaptive Use of Religious Structures, Rochester, New York: A Case Study'' (MSc

Historic Preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 1986), p.83-102. The rectory, or community house, was constructed in 1870 in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

style.J. Russiello,
A Sympathetic Planning Hierarchy for Redundant Churches: A Comparison of Continued Use and Reuse in Denmark, England and the United States of America
' (MSc

Conservation of Historic Buildings Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, 2008), p.370.

History

St. Joseph's served as the mother church for the German Catholic churches in the region. Many of these satellite churches and schools lured away parishioners and students, causing building replacements to the complex and finally closure and sale in the 1970s. The church suffered a serious fire in October 1974. ''See also:'' The fire destroyed the church, except for the tower and walls, forcing the parish to abandon the ruin. The

Landmark Society of Western New York A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

, the

State University College at Brockport State University of New York Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). History C ...

, city officials, members of the Downtown Development Corporation, and the original Roman Catholic religious order all supported preserving the bell tower and three extant bays (front façade) as a monument encased in a park, named St. Joseph's Park. The conversion was carried out by Landmark Society of Western New York in 1980.

References

External links

Monroe County (NY) Library System - Rochester Images - St. Joseph's Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church and Rectory Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Italianate architecture in New York (state) Greek Revival church buildings in New York (state) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1846 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches in Rochester, New York Former Roman Catholic church buildings in New York (state) Closed churches in New York (state) Church fires in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Rochester, New York Italianate church buildings in the United States